Ford unloads another 7 million shares in EV startup Rivian for $188.2 million

Ford Motor Co. has unloaded another 7 million shares of electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive Inc.'s stock.

That's according to regulatory paperwork filed Friday, and follows Ford selling 8 million shares earlier last week for $214 million. Between the two sales, Ford's stake in Rivian sits just below 10%. At the time of Rivian's initial public offering in November, Ford had a 12% stake in the company.

In this latest transaction, Ford sold the 7 million shares for $26.88 each, for a total of roughly $188.2 million. Ford's move followed the end of the insider lockup for Rivian's stock after the startup's IPO,  which was the largest IPO of the year and raised about $12 billion.

"We think it's prudent at this point to monetize a small portion of the investment," Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau said in a statement following the initial sale. The company did not have anything further to add Monday.

Since Rivian's IPO, however, the Irvine, Ca.-based company has faced numerous setbacks and challenges, including supply-chain disruptions and other issues that have curtailed production at its Normal, Ill. plant.

Last week, the company reaffirmed its forecast that it will build 25,000 vehicles this year, which sent shares up. So far this year, it's produced about 5,000 units. The manufacturer is producing three products at its Illinois plant: the R1T pickup truck, the R1S SUV, and an electric delivery van for Amazon.com, Inc., another major investor in the startup.

Year-to-date, Rivian's stock is down approximately 75%. The stock was trading down Monday after opening at $26.47 per share.

Ford, which invested $1.2 billion in the startup, reported a $3.1 billion net loss in the first quarter that it attributed to a $5.4 billion loss on its investment.

jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @JGrzelewski